Hiltz's nine saves, Contreras' goal lead Newfield past East Islip
Newfield's Ricardo Contreras heads the ball during Newfield's 1-0 win over East Islip. Contreras scored the winning goal late in the second half. (Sept. 27, 2010) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
East Islip was peppering goalkeeper Brandon Hiltz with shots, Newfield wasn't getting any offensive opportunities in the second half, and Sam Durkot, its best player, was sitting on the bench with an ice pack on his left hamstring.
The prospects of a Newfield goal looked bleak, but the Wolverines converted one of their few chances with 2:28 left in the game when Ricardo Contreras scored off a pass from Steven Lopes in a 1-0 home win Monday in a Suffolk League III boys soccer game.
Hiltz was immediately tested, making three of his nine saves in the first 10 minutes.
"They were pressuring us nonstop," Hiltz said. "[Keith] McKenna is a great forward and he kept getting through. I just had to slide out and challenge him."
Said Lopes: "Hiltz played great. He's the reason we won the game."
Lopes set up the goal with some nice work near the net and fed Contreras, who was playing in his first game after transferring from Oyster Bay two weeks ago.
"I was one-on-one in the corner and I looked up and the box was a little crowded," Lopes said, "so I played it back and someone was there."
East Islip (2-3, 1-2) had numerous scoring chances with indirect kicks, direct kicks, corner kicks and a breakaway.
"We didn't play as well as I would have liked," Newfield coach Jamie Santiago said. "They were all over us. They outplayed us in the second half and Brandon had to make a lot of saves. They deserved a point out of here and we kind of stole the game."
Newfield (5-0, 3-0) will take it considering Durkot didn't play at all in the second half after playing sparingly in the first half. He injured the hamstring Thursday and was about to substitute into the game right before the goal was scored.
It was another tough loss for East Islip, which has lost three one-goal games, including two in overtime.
"We've played some good games," East Islip coach Ray Lang said, "but we're coming up short. We have to refocus and keep going. We're a good team. We're just not lucky right now and we're not getting it done."
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
